Colorado’s Building Excellent Schools Today program has the impoverished Mapleton school district in line for a $32 million school improvement grant. But to land the money, the district needs to come up with $32 million in matching funds.

The district’s board on Tuesday voted unanimously to ask property owners to OK a bond issue to cover the match.

“This bond measure is the only way our community has to raise the funds necessary to secure the pending $32 million in stimulus funds from the State of Colorado,” board secretary/treasurer Victor Domenico said in a news release Wednesday. “If we don’t raise this money, the state already has plans to give the $32 million grant to other school districts. We need to keep these stimulus dollars in our community.”

Although community support for the bond issue is already building, the board faces a tough sell in November election.

Last year, the district’s $30.2 million bond issue lost by 52 votes. Two previous consecutive bond issues for new buildings were also nixed.

Tim VanBinsbergen, general manager of Mountain States Toyota, on Wednesday said a citizens group supporting the bond measure, Yes For Mapleton, has already formed.

He said the district has worked hard for a second chance at the federal school funds.

“We can’t lose these dollars again,” VanBinsbergen said in the news release. “This is the most affordable this project will ever be. Now is the only time. We’re not going to get this chance again.”

The board said the money from this issue — approximately $22 per $100,000 worth of residential property value annually — would be used to match the state BEST fund grant that would be used to improve five schools on the Skyview Campus, including new classrooms, a regional library and a community resource center.

It would also fund an addition to York International school that would allow the district to stop renting six modular classrooms, and would help the district to deal with safety and security issues district wide and to embark on a HVAC, roof, asbestos abatement, carpeting and parking lot replacement program.

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